1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and a method thereof for making personal authentication possible.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various methods have been proposed for identifying a user who is authorized to use an apparatus by, for example, processing a personal identification number (PIN) or biological information such as, fingerprints, iris patterns, etc provided by the user.
Conventional authentication methods employing PIN numbers typically require users to input a predetermined PIN by using a ten-key pad with which an apparatus is equipped, or input the predetermined PIN by operating one or more switches multiple-times in an apparatus which cannot be equipped with the ten-key pad.
One conventional authentication method employing biological information is mentioned in Japanese Laid-open No. 2004-23733, which discloses an apparatus equipped with a fingerprint scanner or a camera to input the iris patterns. The apparatus described in the above-mentioned patent document performs a personal identification of a user by comparing the biological information input from the scanner or the camera with the personal information registered in the apparatus.
However, a fundamental problem associated with an authentication method to verify an authorized user by input of the PIN is that it may be comparatively easy for another person to pose as the authorized user by way of stealing, counterfeiting or obtaining leakage of information, etc. An authentication method using the biological information necessitates a cumbersome task of acquiring a fingerprint image or an eyeball image in order to obtain the iris pattern. Also, another disadvantage associated with the biological information authentication method is that the acquisition of the biological information may be affected greatly by the condition of the photographer and surroundings at the time. When the biological information is acquired, acceptable biological information may not necessarily be obtained. Therefore such authentication method may require the user to spend a long time and deal with cumbersome operations in order to input the necessary biological information.